Railway-switch-operating device.



No. 801,286. PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905. H. WHITE.

RAILWAY SWITCH OPERATING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAILM, 190s.

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I Httom No. 801,286. PATENTED 001-10, 1905. H. WHITE. I

RAILWAY SWITCH OPERATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MARJA, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witnesses UNrrEn STATES HARRY WHITE, OF PITTSBURG, KANSAS.

RAlLWAY-SWlTCH-OPERATING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905- Application filed March 14, 1905. Serial No.250,098.

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY WHITE, acitizen of the United States, residingat Pittsburg, in the county of Crawford and State of Kansas, haveinvented a new and useful Railway- Switch-OperatingDevice,of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to safety-switches for railways, and has for itsobject to provide a device of this character of improved constructionand increased efficiency and adapted for operation from an approachingtrain to close a switch which may have been left open by accident ordesign, and thus obviating liability to accidents.

IVith these and other objects in view,which will appear as the nature ofthe invention is better understood, the same consists in certain novelfeatures of construction, as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters,is illustrated the preferred form of embodiment of the invention capableof carrying the same into practical operation, it being understood thatthe invention is not necessarily limited thereto, as various changes inthe shape, proportions, and general assemblage of the parts may beresorted to without departing from the principle of the invention orsacrificing any of its advantages.

In the drawings thus employed, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of arailway-track with the improved devices applied. Fig. 2 is a transversesection on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofportions of the operating parts detached. Fig. 4 is a detachedperspective view of the yieldable base-plate. Fig. 5 is an enlargedsectional detail of the trip member detached.

In the drawings the line-rails 1O 11 and switch-rails 12 13 are of theusual construction and mounted upon the cross-ties 14.

Connected to the points of the switchrails, as by clamps 15, is abridle-bar 16, and slidably disposed beneath this bar near one end andextending beyond said end is a coupling-bar 17. The bar 17 is providedwith a slot 18, through which a clamp-bolt 19 passes from the bar 16, sothat the two bars are movable longitudinally to an extent equal to thelength of the slot. Connected across a pair of the ties 14 is a plate20, and pivoted at 21 upon this plate is a lever 22, with one end at 23extending beneath a keeper 24 on the bridle-bar 16 and the other endconnected by a link 25 to one end of a bell-crank 26, pivoted at itselbow by a pin 27 to one of the ties 14 and having a pin 28 extendingupwardly from the other end of the bell-crank. Connected in any suitablemanner to one or more of the ties 14 is a trip-plate 29, which bearsupon the pin 28 and serves to depress the latter when engaged by aprojection upon the approaching train, as hereinafter explained.Attached to the lever 22, adjacent to the bars 16 17, as by rivets 30,is a bracket 31, the free end of which extends beneath the bridle-bar 16and is pivoted, as at 32, to the inner end of the lower coupling-bar 17.

Mounted for lateral movement on the ties member 40, having one end 41spring-supported and extended through alined apertures in the plate 33and the bar 16 and its opposite end connected by a rod 42 to the freeend of the bracket 31, the rod 42 being preferably provided with aturnbuckle 43 or other means for adjusting the same.

The apertures in the bar 16 and plate 33 are so disposed that they comein alined position when the point of the switch-rail 12 is in engagementwith the rail 10, or with the switch open for the siding. Consequentlythe switch will be locked in its open position for the siding by thetrip member 40. With the switch in this position, or open for thesiding, the same will be automatically opened for the main line by theflanges of the wheels of a train approaching on the main line from thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 1 if from any cause the switch should beleft open for the siding and without damage to the parts, as hereinaftermore fully described.

Disposed adjacent to the railway-track is a switch-stand 44, having avertical shaft 45, provided at its lower end with a crank-arm 46,pivoted to the free end of the bar 17, and likewise provided with anoperating-lever 47, provided with a drop-handle 48. The upper face ofthe stand 44 is provided with a recess 49, into which the drop-handle 48rests when the switch-rails aremoved into their closed position, or forguiding the trains upon the main line.

Means will be provided upon the locomotive of the approaching train fordepressing the plate 29, and an approved device of this character isshown in Figs. 1 and 2, consisting of a wheel 50, adjustably mountedupon the forward axle of the pilot-wheels of the locomotive, the axleand pilot-wheels being represented, respectively, at 51 52. The wheel 50is mounted for longitudinal movement on the axle by a lever 53, fromwhich an operating-rod 54 leads to the cab of the locomotive foroperation by the engineer; but as this part of the device forms no partof the invention herein described it is not further illustrated. By thismeans the wheel 50 may be adjusted into position to engage the plate 29when required or moved to one side when not required.

1V ith a device constructed as herein described the operation is asfollows: If the switch is in the required position and set either forthe side track ormain line, the engineer of the approaching train paysno attention to the mechanism controlling the wheel 50, and the trainproceeds past the switch. If, however, the engineer perceives that theswitch is open into the side track, he simply sets the wheel 50 intoposition to engage the plate 29, which depresses said plate, and therebymoves the lever 22 laterally through the action of the coupling members25, 26, and 28. The lever 22 is first moved a distance equal to thelength of the slot 18 before it picks up the bar 16 and begins to movethe switch-rails, this lost motion enabling the trip member 10 to bedetached from the plate 33 and bar 16 before movement of theswitch-rails occurs. It will be noted that there is but one notch orrecess 49 in the switch-stand, so that the drophandle 48 will notprevent the return movement of the operating-handle 47 when the switchis thrown by the action of the lever Q2 and the shaft 45 rotated by itsconnection to the bar 17. hen, however, the shaft 15 is thus rotated,with the closing action of the switch-rails the drop-handle will enterthe recess 19 and lock the switch in closed position. If, as beforestated, a train approaches from the opposite direction, or as indicatedby the arrow in Fig. 1, with the switch open the flanges of the pilotwheel will throw the switch-rails over and by the coupling between thebars 16 17, formed by the plate 33, triplock member 1O, and rod 42, theshaft 45 will be rotated to cause the drop-handle 18 to engage therecess 19, and thus lock the switch in its open position.

The device is simple in construction, certain and accurate in operation,and may be inexpensively manufactured and in stalled upon therailway-lines without change in the structure of the same.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In asafety-switch, movable rails, a bridle-bar connecting the switch-rails,a pivoted locking member adapted to engage the bridlebar to lock theswitch in open position, a lever having one end thereof operativelyconnected with the bridle-bar, a trip-plate carried by the opposite endof the lever and operable by the approaching train for releasing thelocking member and moving the switch to closed position, and means forautomatically locking said switch in closed position.

2. In a safety-switch, movable switch-rails, a bridle-bar connecting theswitch-rails, a coupling-bar movably connected to said bridle-bar, aplate yieldably supported beneath said bridle-bar, locking meansdisposed between said plate and bridle-bar, connecting means betweensaid locking means and coupling-bar, and means operative by theapproaching train for releasing said locking means and closing saidswitch.

3. In a safety-switch, movable switch-rails, a bridle-bar connecting theswitchrails, a pivoted locking member adapted to engage the bridle-barfor locking the switch in open position, and a lever pivotally connectedto the locking member and operable by the approaching train forreleasing said locking member and moving the switch to closed position.

1. In a safety-switch, movable switch-rails, a bridle-bar connecting theswitch-rails and provided with a transverse aperture, a coupling-barmovably connected to said bridle-bar, a plate yieldably supportedbeneath said bridle-bar and provided with an aperture for registrationwith the aperture in said bridlebar when the switch is in open position,a locking member pivoted to said bridle-bar and having an extended endfor entering said apertures when the same are in alined relation,connecting means between said lever member and said coupling-bar, andmeans operative by the approaching train for releasing said lockingmember and closing the switch.

5. In a safety-switch, movable switch-rails, a bridle-bar connecting theswitch-rails and provided with an elongated keeper, a coupling-barmovably connected to said bridle-bar, a locking means disposed betweencouplingplate and bridle-bar to hold the switch in open position, alever pivoted adjacent to said. bridle-bar and extending beneath thekeeper and connected to said coupling-bar, and means operative by theapproaching train for actuating said lever and first releasing saidlooking means and then moving said bridle-bar to effect the closing ofthe switch.

6. In a safety-switch, movable switeh-rails, a bridle-bar connecting theswitch-rails and provided with an elongated keeper and a transverseaperture, a coupling-bar movably connected to said bridle-bar, alocking-lever pivotally connected to said bridle-bar and extend- IIO ingby one end through said bridle-bar aperture to hold the switch in openposition, coupling means between said coupling-bar and locking-lever, alever mounted for movement adjacent to said bridle-bar and having oneend thereof extended beneath the keeper and pivoted to saidcoupling-bar, and means operative by the approaching train forconsecutively actuating said coupling and bridle bars, for releasing thelocking means and closing the switch.

7. In a safety-switch, movable switch-rails, a bridle-bar connecting theswitch-rails and provided with an elongated keeper and a transverseaperture, a coupling-bar movably connected to said bridle-bar, a plateyieldably supported beneath the bridle-bar and provided with an aperturefor registration with the ap,

erture in said bridle-bar when the switch is in open position, a lockingmember pivoted to said bridle-bar and entering said apertures by one endwhen the same are in alined position, connecting means between saidlocking member and said coupling-bar, a lever mounted for movementadjacent to said bridle-bar and having one end thereof extended beneaththe keeper and pivoted to said coupling-bar,

for consecutively actuating said coupling and bridle bars and efi ectingthe closing of the switch.

8. In a safety-switch, movable switch-rails, a bridle-bar connecting theswitch-rails, a coupling-bar movably connected to said bridlebar,locking means disposed beneath the bridlebar for locking the switch inopen position, a trip member movably connected in advance of theswitch-rails, a bearing-wheel movable laterally upon the forward axle ofthe approaching train for engaging said trip member and depressing thesame, and coupling means between the trip member and said bridle andcoupling bars whereby the switch-rails may be closed in advance of theapproaching train.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY WHITE.

